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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

House Demolitions

MIFTAH

September 24, 2007

On June 10th 1967, the Israeli government demolished the MoroccanQuarter in the Old City of East Jerusalem to make easier public accessto the Western Wall. After the Israeli army called on the inhabitantsof the quarter to vacate their homes only a couple of hours beforethe demolitions took place, a call which was not heard by everybodyin the quarter, 135 houses were demolished along with twomosques and other sites. 650 inhabitants were left homeless andseveral others dead under the rubble of their homes. This demolitionwas not the first of its kind in the Occupied Palestinian Territoriesbut definitely the starting point to a lifetime struggle withillegal house demolitions by the Israel Occupying forces.

Since 1967, almost 18,000 homes have been demolished in theoccupied Palestinian territories for three main reasons: collectivepunishment and for so-called operational and administrative reasons.

House demolitions started before 1967 by the British Mandate as ameans to expel the Palestinians from their homes. Below is a briefhistory of house demolitions in Palestine:

1930s: British administration in Palestine uses house demolitions as

a means of quelling the indigenous uprising against British rule.

1936-1939: British authorities demolish more than 5,000

Palestinian homes.

1948: the newly established state of Israel begins demolishing

the homes of Palestinian refugees to prevent their return. More than

125,000 homes, some of which were damaged during the war,

were systematically destroyed in a process referred to as "cleaning

up the national views".

1950s: Israel expels Palestinians from border areas and

from villages where part of the Palestinian population remained

after the war and demolishes Palestinian homes.

1967: Destruction of housing stock during the war included

375 homes in Imwas, 535 homes in Yalu, 550 homes in Beit

Nuba, an estimated 135 homes in the Moroccan quarter of the

Old City of Jerusalem, 1,000 homes in Qalqilya, in addition to

thousands of homes of Beit Marsam, Beit Awa, Jiftlik, and

al-Burj as well as refugee camps in the Jericho area and

the Gaza Strip.

1970s and 1980s: Israel demolishes more than 10,000 refugee

shelters in the Gaza Strip to create a so-called security corridor

between the southern Gaza Strip and the Sinai and to widen

roads in the camps for Israeli military patrols. Demolitions

were also part of a campaign to forcibly resettle refugees

outside camps.

1993-2000: Israel demolished more than 1,000 homes

across the occupied Palestinian territories

2003: Israel continues to demolish Palestinian homes inside

Israel. Demolitions of Bedouin homes in the Naqab (Negev)

increased by eight times. More than 100 homes were

demolished. An additional 280 homes were destroyed in the

Galilee and the Triangle. In total more than 500 homes

were destroyed. There are an estimated 12,000 outstanding

demolition orders in the Galilee and some 30,000 in the

Negev to date.

House demolitions continue.

Pretexts under which house demolitions are carried out:

Collective Punishment: The Israeli government uses house demolitions as collective punishmentin response to attacks on Israel; families of attackers or ofpeople suspected of carrying out attacks as well as theirneighbors or in some cases whole neighborhoods are subject to thisillegal violation of human rights. Under the Fourth GenevaConvention, Occupying Powers are prohibited from destroyingproperty or employing collective punishment. Article 53 reads:"Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personalproperty belonging individually or collectively to privatepersons…is prohibited." According to the Israeli human rightsorganization, B'Tselem, 47% of houses demolished as punitivepunishment were never the homes of attackers or suspectedattackers on Israel but were houses adjacent to thesehomes. Additionally, only 3% of all occupants of demolishedhouses were given prior notice that the Israeli army woulddemolish their house or an adjacent one.

Before the policy of collective punishment by means of housedemolitions was renewed during the second (Al Aqsa) Intifada,demolitions were only carried out after a military order wasissued. Under Israeli law the demolition order is delivered tothe family and the family is allowed to appeal to the militarycommander within 48 hours. Even if the appeal is denied, thefamily must be allowed to petition the High Court beforethe house is demolished. In reality, however this is not thecase at all. During the current Intifada, Israel treated housedemolitions as an imperative military action whereby mostof the house demolitions took place at night, without anyprior notice or demolition order.

Military Operations:The second reason given by the Israeli government for housedemolition is an operational one which took place duringmilitary operations called "clearing operations". UnderInternational Humanitarian Law (IHL), the destruction ofproperty during combat is not illegal as such. Destructionis prohibited unless there is an absolute military necessityto do so. It has been observed however that large-scaledemolition operations carried out on civilian homes in thename of necessary military operations immediately afteran attack on Israelis suggest otherwise. Gaza morethan anywhere else in Palestine has become thetarget of such actions and false justifications. MiloonKothari a UN Special Rapporteur speaking to Diakonia inresponse to Israel's attack on Beit Hannoun onNovember 8th, 2006 said: " Since 25 June 2006, themost recent Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip, Icontinue to receive alarming reports about deliberateattacks by Israeli forces resulting in the destruction ofhomes, civilian property and infrastructures in the GazaStrip. Such acts have a devastating impact on civiliansparticularly, women and children, and create insecurityand psychological trauma. Thus, these forced evictionsand unjustifiable destruction constitute breaches ofinternational laws of human rights, war and humanitariannorms. International law strictly prohibits the destructionof private or public property when not absolutelynecessary by military operations". Since the beginningof the uprising, 14,852 people have been madehomeless by Israeli actions up to 2004.

Administrative policies: The most common defense used for demolishing houses ineast Jerusalem and Palestinian houses in Israel is foradministrative reasons. The Israeli government demolisheshouses in Area C (Palestine Areas under Israeli military andcivil control) because of lack of building licenses eventhough attaining a building license in east Jerusalemor inside Israel is nearly impossible for Palestinians. Israeliarmy Legal Advisor Colonel Shlomo Politus told the IsraeliParliament in July 2003 that: "...there are no moreconstruction permits for Palestinians," and the Israeli Armyspokesperson told Amnesty International delegates in1999 that "Our policy is not to approve building inArea C [of the West Bank]". Houses are demolishedbecause Israel wants to expand the Israeli settlementsin the West Bank as well as creating permanentfacts on the ground. According to B'TselemPalestinian houses under this justification are normallydemolished to meet the following needs:

Construction of bypass roads: Bypass roads are intended

to enable the movement of settlers and military forces

protecting the settlements. Houses lying alongside an existing

or planned bypass road are designated for demolition.

Removal of Palestinians from areas adjacent to Israeli

settlements: Israeli authorities consistently demolish

Palestinian structures that are perceived as hindrances

to the establishment and expansion of Israeli

settlements. The proximity of the houses to the

settlements obviously is not posed as an official

reason for the demolition in these cases.

To prevent transfer of land to Palestinians: Israel

demolishes houses in areas located on land that it

wants to keep for itself in the final-status

agreement. By pursuing this policy, Israel is

preventing the Palestinian Authority from

demanding the land on grounds that Palestinians

live there. Demolition of houses is a convenient

way to expel residents from the area.

Israeli forces are still demolishing houses in large numbers underfalse pretenses and justifications to serve the overall purposeof the Zionist state to uproot and drive as many Palestiniansout of their houses and lands as possible and to build moreillegal settlements. According to B'Tselem's recent statistics, inthe last two years (2006-2007) in the West Bank alone 165houses were demolished leaving 724 people homeless, andbetween 2004-2007 in east Jerusalem alone 300 houseswere demolished leaving 939 Palestinians homeless. Housedemolitions have a severe impact on the Palestinianpeople, affecting the economy and agriculture andcausing severe trauma to children, women and menwho fall victim to this war crime.

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Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. Matt. 10:26-27